Studiocur/art is pleased to announce The Silent Echo, an exhibition opening September, 17th 2016 at the Archaeological site Museum of Baalbek-Lebanon.

For the first time, the UNESCO world heritage site of Baalbek will host a contemporary art exhibition in its museum and the Temple of Bacchus. Composed of a triad of temples (Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus), the site dates back to 27BC and is located 90km from Beirut, Lebanon.
Historically known as Heliopolis during the Hellenistic period, it is considered to be one of the most important Roman sites in the Middle East.

The exhibition sheds light on the importance of on-site Museums and explores in the context of Baalbek, how monuments and artifacts become symbols of an obsolete past, subject to destruction during war and victims of iconoclasm. The erosion of objects also caused by longterm exposure to atmospheric factors raises issues of preservation, ethics, and questions about how best to keep the vestiges of the past existent.

The silent archaeological findings are echoes of a lost time, while contemporary artworks echo the archaeology displayed in the Museum.

ABOUT STUDIOCUR/ART
Founded by Karina El Helou a Franco-lebanese curator, Studiocur/art is based in Paris and operates as a non-profit curatorial platform specialised in contemporary art. Studiocur/art aims to work with both young and established artists researching and developing a contemporary language on subjects including, but not limited to, nature, sound, archeology and time. The platform has a keen interest in bringing contemporary art to heritage buildings and uncommon spaces, moving from the white cube experience. It also develops its interdisciplinary approach by
inviting academics and artists to meet and exchange, encouraging different thought processes in non-institutional spaces. What is important to Studiocur/art, is to offer freedom for creative thought to unfold without restraint or fear. The platform collaborates with curators and organises three exhibitions per year internationally in public and private spaces.

15 October 2016: Upon invitation from Studiocur/art and with the support of Robert A. Matta Foundation, the Association for the Promotion and Exhibition of Art from Lebanon (APEAL) and the BeMA: Beirut Museum of Art have commissioned Zoukak contemporary theatre company to create an outreach program with the local community of Baalbek in response to the exhibition.
Following a series of 10 intensive workshops focused on issues of heritage and storytelling, a final performance will be held at the Temple of Bacchus on October 15. With the support of the Embassy of Switzerland, the outreach program will be recorded into a short documentary by filmmaker Roy Dib.

Under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of Lebanon/ Ministry of Tourism/ Unesco/ Baalbek Municipality.